Trump v. Clinton: White House race tightens again, say polls

Two polls have the gap closing between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. (Wikimedia)

Two new polling updates on the White House race between Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump show things have tightened up again, almost to the point of being a dead heat, but the election is still more than two months out and many things could change.

According to Rasmussen Reports’ “White House Watch” survey of likely voters, Clinton is now leading Trump 41-39 percent, with Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson at 9 percent and Green Party’s Jill stein in a distant fourth place with only 3 percent.

According to Rasmussen, Trump has been losing ground since mid-July. He peaked at 44 percent, and Clinton apparently has more support from her party at 77 percent than he does from the GOP at 69 percent.

On the plus side for Trump, he still has a significant 38-29 percent lead among unaffiliated voters, Rasmussen said.

The Los Angeles Times noted Thursday that voters in the 35-64 year age group have “shown the least volatility,” pretty much staying even between Clinton and Trump. One age group where Trump enjoys the lead is in the 65-and-older category, while younger voters seem to jump back and forth.

The newspaper also said Clinton seems to have a slight edge with voters in her party, showing that 82.3 percent of Democrats will vote for her, while 82.1 percent of Republicans have said they will vote for Trump, as of Aug. 18.

Rasmussen’s Thursday report said something else: Clinton now holds just a 43% to 39% edge over Trump among women. The race is even closer among men: 40% support Clinton, while 39% back Trump.”

Also, according to Rasmussen, Clinton holds a distinct edge over Trump among black voters but Trump holds a five-point lead among white voters. “Other minority voters are evenly divided,” Rasmussen said.